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BACKGROUND: The policy on drug use is currently undergoing significant change. This article examines how the view of addiction to illegal drugs changed in the first 30 years after the advent of ‘the drug problem’ in Norway. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We performed a search in Oria, bokhylla.no and various databases on the history of illegal drugs in Norway, with an emphasis on the period from 1960–90, with white papers from 1976 and 1986. RESULTS: Until the mid-1960s, Norway had very few opiate abusers. This generally concerned abuse of medically prescribed drugs, and was perceived as an internal problem for the health services. The youth counterculture in the late 1960s brought the recreational use of illegal substances to Norway, leading to major concern on the part of the public authorities. ‘The drug problem’ was now perceived as a significant societal problem, with social and societal causal explanations, and was therefore the subject of a white paper (1976). The next white paper (1986) put forward the ideal of a ‘drug-free society’ for the first time, with the purpose of general deterrence and strict sentencing as important instruments. INTERPRETATION: From the early 1960s until the late 1980s, the ‘drug problem’ was perceived in different ways. At the start of the period, it was formulated primarily as a medical problem. From the late 1960s, it was seen first and foremost as a social problem caused by changes in society, whereas from the late 1970s until the late 1980s, control measures constituted the most important instrument to address the problem.

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